Saints of July…
Saint Junipero Serra…July 1st
Junipero Serra (1713 – 1784) played a significant part in the history of the United States, Canada and the Church itself. He was born on the island of Majorca off the coast of Spain. He joined the Franciscans in Palma, Majorca, at the age of 16. After ordination he became a philosophy professor of some stature at the university there. However, he felt drawn to the work of the Franciscan missions in Mexico.
Padre Serra sailed for the Americas at the age of 35. After six months at the university in Mexico City, he volunteered to serve at the remote mountain missions of Sierra Gorda. He was the first missionary there to learn Otomi, the local language. During his eight-year stay he saw to the building of several churches, which are still in use. During this time he defended Native American property rights against encroachment by Europeans.
When Serra was 55 years old, the Spanish decided to explore Alta California (now the State of California). Though not in the best of health, he traveled along. He described the region as “a veritable paradise.” He wanted to establish a string of missions, each a day’s walk from the last, all the way up the Pacific Coast. Mission San Diego was the first. Each mission became a trading center and then a city. Ultimately 21 missions were established along the El Camino Real. Padre Serra founded nine of them and baptized over 6000 Native Americans to the faith. He is recognized as the builder of the State of California. Though his health continued to deteriorate, Serra traveled constantly between the missions. He died at age 70. He had traveled an estimated 24,000 miles during his lifetime.
Sadly from today’s perspective, Serra and the other missionaries worked closely with the government of Spain. It wanted the Indian lands for Spanish settlers seeking to make their fortunes in the new territories. The soldiers burned the crops and villages of the Native Americans, who then had no choice but to move to local missions and begin a totally new way of life. In some cases, whole tribes were wiped out by the shock of these sudden changes in lifestyle.
There had thus been some controversy attending the canonization of Junipero Serra on September 23, 2015, by Pope Francis. His canonization is the first to take place on United States soil. Because of the harsh treatment received by Native Americans from the military forces of Spain and even from the missionaries, many historians and Native American groups opposed his canonization. He is buried at San Carlos Borromeo Mission in Carmel, California. His feast day is July 1st .
Saint Kateri Tekakwitha...July 14
Tekakwitha was born in 1656 in Ossernenon, a Mohawk village in upper New York, where St. Isaac Jogues met his death. Her mother was a devout Catholic of the Algonquin nation but had been taken captive in a war with the Mohawks. Tekakwitha’s father was a Mohawk chief. When a smallpox epidemic wiped out most of her people, including both her parents as well as her brother, Tekakwitha survived with very bad eyesight and a scarred body.
Though her mother was a Catholic, Tekakwitha had never been baptized. Now, orphaned at age 4, she was adopted by her father’s family, who hated the Jesuit missionaries. But after a peace treaty allowed the Jesuits to preach in the Mohawk Villages, Tekakwitha met with them in secret and at the age of 20 was baptized and given the name Kateri, for Catherine.
Kateri cherished time spent in the woods walking and kneeling for hours in prayer. But she was harshly punished for refusing to work on Sundays and for refusing to marry. Punitive beatings, continual criticism, and mockery were constant. In 1677, seeing her perseverance and fortitude, one of the Jesuits decided to send her away to Kahnawake in Quebec, where there was a large community of Christian aboriginal people. There she was able to express and deepen her faith freely. Kateri lived a life dedicated to care for the sick and aged, prayer and severe penitential practices. When Kateri visited Montreal she witnessed Marguerite Bourgeoys and her companions working and living in a convent. On her return, Kateri, along with a widowed companion, tried to convince the priest to open a convent in the village. Finally, in 1679 she was allowed to begin a small convent at the mission.
However, in the spring of 1680, Kateri’s health deteriorated rapidly. Her pain soon became so great that she was not able to move. When she died at the age of 24, her last words were “Jesus and Mary.” Those at her side said that as they watched all the scars on her body disappeared and her disfigured face and skin shined.
Kateri was the first of the aboriginal people of North America to be beatified and canonized. She is invoked as patroness of the environment and ecology. She is often referred to as the “Lilly of the Mohawks”. In Canada, she is remembered each year on April 17th and in the United States on July 14th. She was canonized on October 21st, 2012.
Hope your summer is going along okay albeit a bit different due to the Covid-19 virus. Stay well and healthy during these days. I know that these days can be a bit challenging and lonely and lead to some bouts of depression. So if you are having a bad day my suggestion to you is to run out to the store (with a mask, of course) and buy yourself a 2021 calendar and hang it on your wall. You will feel much better!
Monsignor Jack
0822
This Week's Bulletin
This week's bulletin is attached below. Hard copies of this weekend’s bulletin are available on the shelf in the vestibule of the rectory office.
Sunday Mass
Sign Up for Sunday Mass
Our capacity for Sunday Mass has increased to 200 people.
Sunday Mass is at 10:00 am.
Weekday Mass is at 8:15 am.
- Please sign up on the Sign Up Genius below. Masks are required and social distancing will still need to be practiced at all times.
- Visit https://stpeterlive.com/reopening-news for Mass guidelines.
- Please remember that all Catholics are dispensed of their Sunday Mass obligation which means that not attending Mass is NOT A SIN.
Distribution of Communion after Mass
Communion will be offered to those who are unable to attend Mass in person between 11:10am-11:30am. (This will allow time for the those attending Mass to exit and the church cleaners to get started after Mass).
Please sign up on the Sign Up Genius below.
Beyond the Building Technology Fund:
St. Peter is committed to continue to Livestream Masses in the future as well as explore even more ways to connect and engage with our parish family online. To do this...we need your help! We will need to invest in additional equipment, software, and support to sustain an ongoing Livestream ministry. The estimated cost for this project is $30,000 which includes Livestream equipment, installation, and software. The Beyond the Building Technology Fund has been set up to support this Livestream initiative to provide continued Livestream Mass regularly as well as live stream special events including 1st Communion, Confirmation, weddings, funerals, special Masses, etc. If you are able, we hope that you will consider giving to this initiative. Donations can be made through the link below or checks can be mailed to the rectory at 243 W. Argonne Drive, Kirkwood, MO 63122. Any amount is greatly appreciated!
RCIA
Do you ever ask yourself…
What am I looking for in life?
What is the meaning of my life?
How can I be a better person?
What can I do about the loneliness I feel?
How can I come to know God’s love?
How can I know the right path God has in store for me?
If you are asking these questions, or questions like them, then the Catholic life awaits you. For centuries, people have turned to the Church to find the answers to the hardest and deepest questions of everyday life.
Are you interested in finding out more about the Catholic Faith?
If so, sessions are held every Sunday beginning on September 13 at 9:30 AM.
Please give us a call if you have any questions, would like further information, or need directions, at 314-966-8600, ext.1011 or email at ldoyle@stpeterkirkwood.org.
Prevent and Protect STL
The Archdiocese of St. Louis has developed a new system for safe environment compliance called Prevent and Protect STL. Everyone (clergy, employees and volunteers) ministering to minors and vulnerable adults in the Archdiocese are required to register in the new system before December 31, 2020. This includes those new to service as well as those who are currently compliant and in service. For those who have already attended a Protecting God's Children workshop, your previous training date will transfer to this new system. In addition to attending a live Protecting God's Children workshop, all clergy, volunteers and employees will register for an updated background screening, view two new on-line training modules on abuse reporting and the Code of Ethical Conduct, and agree to the updated Code of Ethical Conduct.
Please go to www.preventandprotectstl.org: select the ‘register’ link and enter ‘stlprotect’ for the passcode. Then create your username and password for this new system. Contact Mary Doyle, the parish Child Safety Coordinator, at (314)966-8600 or mdoyle@stpeterkirkwood.org with any questions or for assistance.
Thank you for your continued support.
How can I help those in need?
Alzheimer's Association Information
The Prayer of St. Francis
Lord, make me an instrument of your peace,
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
Where there is injury, pardon;
Where there is doubt, faith;
Where there is despair, hope;
Where there is darkness, light;
Where there is sadness, joy;
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
Where there is injury, pardon;
Where there is doubt, faith;
Where there is despair, hope;
Where there is darkness, light;
Where there is sadness, joy;
O Divine Master,
Grant that I may not so much seek
To be consoled as to console;
To be understood as to understand;
To be loved as to love.
Grant that I may not so much seek
To be consoled as to console;
To be understood as to understand;
To be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive;
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
And it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
And it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.
Amen
